WORLD CHAMPION COLIN LYNCH and European silver medallist Bethany Firth look to be Ireland’s best chances of medal success on day two of the 2012 Paralympics.

Lynch rides in the bronze final of the men’s individual pursuit C2 cycling later on Friday after he finished fourth in this morning’s qualifying round. The Macclesfield-born rider clocked in at 3:54.946 to set up a ride-off against Laurent Thirionet of France at 3.55pm.

Afterwards, Lynch said that he was “slightly disappointed” but promised that he would be fully focused on a podium finish later today.

Elsewhere in the Velodrome, Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan set a new Irish record to finish fifth in the Individual 1KM Time Trial B final. Walsh and Meehan finished in 1:12.864 with the event’s other Irish team, Katie-George Dunlevy and Sandra Fitzgerald, finishing seventh in 1:14.315.

In the individual pursuit C3 qualifiers, Enda Smyth set a new national record with his second PB of the Games. Smyth finished in seventh place overall, knocking five seconds off his previous best.

Meanwhile all eyes will be on the Aquatic Centre later this evening when 16-year-old Bethany Firth goes in the final of the 100m backstroke S14. Firth finished second in her heat and fourth-fastest overall, establishing her as a serious medal contender in this evening’s final at 7.38pm.

Before that, Laurence McGivern swims in the final of the 100m backstroke S9 at 6.32pm. The 19-year-old smashed his PB by more than two seconds, finishing fourth in his heat with a time of 1:05.35.

“I came here and wanted to do a PB and I’m delighted that it was enough to get me into the final,” McGivern said afterwards. “I’m up against the world’s best here so that’s what motivated me the most.

“Normally I swim better in the evening.I did a big PB this morning so if I can go better that would be amazing.”

In athletics, Heather Jameson finished seventh in the women’s long jump F37/38 final while in the men’s club throw, 2004 silver medallist John McCarthy failed to qualify for this afternoon’s final.

At Eton Dorney, the Irish rowing team finished fifth in their LTAMix4+ heat and now advance to the repechage on Saturday where a place in the final will be at stake.

In table tennis, Rena McCarron Rooney won her second game in the women’s table tennis singles F1-2 preliminaries but Eimear Breathnach lost in five against France’s Florence Sireau.

In shooting Seán Baldwin’s score of 553 was not enough to qualify for the final of R1 – 10m Air Rifle SH1, while equestrian rider James Dwyer finished fourth in the team test Grade IV event.

Collated Results

Cycling

Men’s Individual Pursuit C2 Qualifiers

Qualifiers: 1. G Liang (CHN) 3:45.828, 2. T Graf (GER) 3.47.799, 3. L Thirionet (FRA) 3.52.955, 4. Colin Lynch (IRL) 3:54.946 – qualifies for bronze medal ride-off

Individual 1KM Time Trial B

Medallists: 1 F Johnson & S Mortin (AUS) 1:08.919, 2. A McGLynn & H Scott (GBR) 1:09.469, 3. P Gray & L Thompson (NZL), 5. Catherine Walsh & Francine Meehan (IRL) 1:12.864, 7. Katie George Dunleavy & Sandra Fitzgerald (IRL) 1:14.315

Men’s Individual Pursuit C3 Qualifiers

Qualifiers: 1. J Berenyi USA 3:36.148, 2. D Nicholas (NZL) 3:36.757, 3. D Kenny (GBR) 3:37.977, 4. A Bbydennov (RSA) 3:43.244, 7. Enda Smyth (IRL) 3:47.542

Swimming

Women’s 100m Backstroke S14 Heats

Qualifiers Heat 2: 1. JJ Applegate (GBR) 1:10.32, 2. Bethany Firth (IRL) 1:10.33

Men’s 100m Backstroke S9 Heats

Qualifiers Heat 2: 1. X Luiu (CHN) 1:04.91, 2. M Peters (GBR) 1:05.12, 3. T Sors (HUN) 1:05.20, 4. Laurence McGivern (IRL) 1:05.35 [qualifies for final at 18.32 tonight]

Men’s 400m Freestyle S8 Heats

Qualifiers Heat 1: 1. S Hynd (GBR) 4:33.25, 2. Y Wang (CHN) 4:37.86, 3. C Burkard (GER) 4:45.40, 4. Jonathan McGrath (IRL) 4:53.25 DNQ

Shooting

Men’s R1-10m Air Rifle Standing-SH1

Leading Qualifiers: 1. C Dong (CHN) 596, J Neumaier (GER) 594, 3. J Jakobsson (SWE) 593, 29. Sean Baldwin (IRL) 553 DNQ

Athletics

Women’s Long Jump F37/38

Medallists: 1. M Goncharova (RSA) 4.84, 2. I Stryshak (UKR) 4.79, 3. Y Cao (CHN) 4.40, 7. Heather Jameson (IRL) 4.11

Men’s Club Throw F31/32/51 (Ongoing)

15. John McCarthy 20.36m

Table Tennis

Women’s Singles F1-2 Preliminaries

Rena McCarron Rooney (IRL) bt M Bargouthi (JOR) v 10-12, 12-14, 11-7, 11-3-, 11-9

F Sireau (FRA) bt Eimear Breathnach (IRL) 12-14, 11-6, 5-11, 12-10, 11-3

Men’s Singles M1 Preliminaries (Ongoing)

Rob Davies (GBR) v Philip Quinlan (IRL) 11-6, 11-6,

Rowing

LTAMix4+ Heats

Heat 2 Results: 1. Great Britain 3:23.59, 2. USA 3:28.36, 3. Canada 3:29.69, 5 Ireland 3:33.95

Equestrian

4. James Dywer (IRL) 69.719%

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